Thursday, September 8, 2011

On Raans

Last night we went to a little eatery called Persian Durbar, in Bandra West. There were four of us and the mission was to eat a preparation called Three in one Raan, which essentially is roasted leg of lamb.

We ate and ate. And ate. And couldn't finish it, there was that much. I loved the delicate smoked flavor and the no-nonsense presentation. After a post prandial phirni, I reclined on the settee and reminsced.

I've wanted to eat Raan for a long time but never managed to get the three other like minded people needed to finish one portion of it. Till yesterday that is.

I've eaten a similar thing before. In Spain, of all places. And curiously, as part of an airline meal.

We flew from Madrid to Barcelona and they served us a little Paella rice with a small piece of roasted leg of lamb.

It was delicately flavoured and quite unlike anything European. I wondered if it was the Moorish influence. Arabic, perhaps. Or Numidian.

The stewardess, upon being asked what it was called, delivered five thousand Spanish words on the subject, the gist of which, since I don't speak that lovely language beyond saying Gracias (which is pronounced Grathias for some reason), escaped me.

I went around Barcelona looking for something similar but never found it. Not surprising, I guess, since my enquiries comprised of the English words "Leg", "Lamb", "Roasted" and a lot of nimble mime movements. Several of the waiters to whom I presented this performance looked at me anxiously. The missus, who was accompanying me, kept imploring me in Konkani not to make an ass of myself. With sadness, I abandoned my quest.

And it would have stayed abandoned had it not been for the fact that on the flight back, we were served the same thing again! This time, I went around the city of Madrid in search but alas in vain. If that city roasted its lamb legs, they kept it from outsiders.

The missus observed that conventional wisdom had it that the Raan in Spain stayed mainly on the plane, but I felt I would have found it had I only known Spanish better.

8 comments:

Anne said...

//The missus observed that conventional wisdom had it that the Raan in Spain stayed mainly on the plane.
Oh, brilliantly-played! :D

Anonymous said...

For that one last line, you wrote a whole post.
And I found it quite amusing. The missus, this time, was quite 'droll'

Anonymous said...

Raan is what I make for Thanksgiving here instead of turkey. Feeds a pulton, so I'm not surprised 4 of you couldn't finish it. Although I am not sure how you had space for a firni after.

Bhel

Anonymous said...

“The Raan in Spain stayed mainly on the plane.” – awesome punchline!

Anonymous said...

:) you have some wit!!
i do not eat non-veg but i can understand the hunt for food...:)

Anjana R said...

uncle but why are you called "Annie"? do you have a post of how this name came about..?

rk said...

Brilliant post! btw, Gracias is pronounced with a 'C', not 'th'. So I wonder why you heard Grathias...could it be result of the complimentary little bottles on the plane? :)

Achyutha Parlapally said...

Haha.. Raan in Spain stayed mainly on the plane!!

How godawesome your posts are!